Mina Lou Welch-Vaughan
Mina Lou Welch-Vaughan
Mina Lou Welch-Vaughan, age 90, departed this life on Thursday evening, July 24, 2025, at her home in Paris, Kentucky, surrounded by her loving family. Mina was born in Greenville, Kentucky, where she was raised by her parents, Elroy Ruben and Lucy (née Grace) Stuart, and her beloved grandmother, Ella (née Griffin) Grace. She grew up with three younger siblings and many dear cousins in the area. Mina was also a long-time member of First Christian Church of Greenville and maintained a special connection to this congregation over the years.
After graduating from high school and embarking on a brief adventure living and working in Chicago, Mina returned to Kentucky, where she eventually met Bill Welch through her office job at a hardware store in Nortonville. They married in 1957 and started their family in Lexington while Bill completed his engineering degree and started his career at IBM. Mina and Bill moved to Paris while their two children were elementary-aged and lived in the same mid-century ranch home for the remainder of their lives. Mina worked for many years as a teacher’s aide at Ruddles Mill Elementary, as well as at Bourbon Central. Throughout her life, she enjoyed writing poetry, dressing and decorating in the color purple, and spending time with her family and friends. A few years after Bill’s unexpected death in 1994, Mina was happily surprised to find love again after being introduced to David Vaughan by a mutual friend. They married in 1998 and enjoyed many years of retirement together before Dave’s death in 2022.
Mina is survived by her daughter Cathy Welch Greene, son Marvin (Teresa) Welch, and step-daughter Michele (Robert) Vaughan Jeffers, as well as three grandchildren, four step-grandchildren, and their families: Ashleigh and Jeremiah Bailey (with son Ambrose Bailey), Clinton Greene, Sarah Welch, Josh and Kim Eberst (with children Summer, Elsie, and Jack Eberst), Jordan and Carolyn Eberst (with son Luke Eberst), Kieran Vickers, and Kaiden Vickers. Also surviving are brother Ruben Stuart, Jr., nephew Ken Stuart, niece Renee Stuart Smith Murfitt, and grandnieces Meg Webster and Brittany Smith, along with brother Louis (Georgetta) Stuart, niece Amy Meredith, and grandnephew Matt (Venice Dizon) Snyder. Mina was preceded in death by her sister Ruthella Stuart.
The funeral service for Mina Lou Welch-Vaughan was at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, July 28, 2025, at Hinton-Turner Funeral Home with Rev. Dr. Paul Moore, minister of First Christian Church of Greenville, officiating. Interment followed in Evergreen Memory Garden, where she will rest next to her first husband, Bill Welch. Visitation was at 1:00 p.m. until the time of the service.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations to First Christian Church, 133 East Main Cross, Greenville, Kentucky 42345.
